A 14k summer car conundrum
Discussion
A verbose 'what car' post with a caveat: I may well buy nothing so this could be just all talk with no action.
Got my eye on three motors at the minute, all of which happen to be 2-seater RWD convertibles with asking price of £14k.
Must haves: precise, forgiving handling, sense of occasion, must be able to handle taxing 2,000 mile Spain/Portugal tour coming up with September (driving 250 miles per day at eight to nine tenths) without breaking.
Car 1: Z4M, 78k miles, KWs fitted (not sure yet if v3 or Clubsports). Been looking at these for 10+ years but never pulled the trigger as reports of poor handling always put me off. KWs may go some way to address but even still not sure it's a car to push really hard on the road given my less than massive kahoonas. Standard brakes are s
t. And it's a bit lardy for my taste at 1.5 tonnes. But that S54 is such a massive draw and the rawness of it is appealing.
Car 2: Boxster 987.2 S, factory standard, 121k miles. Much cheaper than the usual 987.2 thanks to miles. The miles themselves don't bother me but resale might be an issue. Strong probability I'll need to drop a couple of thou on a suspension refresh to get it driving properly. Doesn't excite me that much if I'm honest but I can't deny how competent they are out of the box (drove a 986 in in the Alps in 2013 and it was brilliant).
Car 3: VX220, supercharged, Nitron N40s. Another car I've been wanting for a long time. Excellent spec and paintwork is very good unlike most of them. Lotus handling and 900 kgs weight really appeal. But parts are getting hard to find now (headlights etc. retailing for a grand). And will it handle a week's thrashing in hot weather? Do I have the skills to handle a 270 bhp VX220? And without AC it will make the early-September Iberian weather much harder to deal with.
Thoughts?
Got my eye on three motors at the minute, all of which happen to be 2-seater RWD convertibles with asking price of £14k.
Must haves: precise, forgiving handling, sense of occasion, must be able to handle taxing 2,000 mile Spain/Portugal tour coming up with September (driving 250 miles per day at eight to nine tenths) without breaking.
Car 1: Z4M, 78k miles, KWs fitted (not sure yet if v3 or Clubsports). Been looking at these for 10+ years but never pulled the trigger as reports of poor handling always put me off. KWs may go some way to address but even still not sure it's a car to push really hard on the road given my less than massive kahoonas. Standard brakes are s
t. And it's a bit lardy for my taste at 1.5 tonnes. But that S54 is such a massive draw and the rawness of it is appealing.Car 2: Boxster 987.2 S, factory standard, 121k miles. Much cheaper than the usual 987.2 thanks to miles. The miles themselves don't bother me but resale might be an issue. Strong probability I'll need to drop a couple of thou on a suspension refresh to get it driving properly. Doesn't excite me that much if I'm honest but I can't deny how competent they are out of the box (drove a 986 in in the Alps in 2013 and it was brilliant).
Car 3: VX220, supercharged, Nitron N40s. Another car I've been wanting for a long time. Excellent spec and paintwork is very good unlike most of them. Lotus handling and 900 kgs weight really appeal. But parts are getting hard to find now (headlights etc. retailing for a grand). And will it handle a week's thrashing in hot weather? Do I have the skills to handle a 270 bhp VX220? And without AC it will make the early-September Iberian weather much harder to deal with.
Thoughts?
Edited by plenty on Friday 1st April 09:34
Thanks all for the comments - keep 'em coming!
370Z is an interesting option. I'd have to drive one but on paper it doesn't really anything especially well - not a brilliant handler but the engine isn't anywhere as special as an S54 either to compensate. If I did go that direction I'd go for the hardtop not the convertible. I actually prefer hardtops but 987.2 Caymen and Z4MCs are an order of magnitude more than £14k.
Chimaeras - love 'em, and certainly tick the 'occasion' box but too agricultural I'm afraid. Handling is my absolute top priority.
370Z is an interesting option. I'd have to drive one but on paper it doesn't really anything especially well - not a brilliant handler but the engine isn't anywhere as special as an S54 either to compensate. If I did go that direction I'd go for the hardtop not the convertible. I actually prefer hardtops but 987.2 Caymen and Z4MCs are an order of magnitude more than £14k.
Chimaeras - love 'em, and certainly tick the 'occasion' box but too agricultural I'm afraid. Handling is my absolute top priority.
That AMG V8 is glorious. But the SLK is more of a cruiser not a honed driving tool which is what I'm looking for. And for me three pedals are non-negotiable.
A BBR MX-5 is another option but I just can't get excited by them. It doesn't actually have to be a two-seater or a cabrio, by the way. Just needs to be special, robust, a great handler, min 180 hp and lbs ft/tonne and preferably small and light.I keep coming back to a Megane R26 actually but I've already got a Clio and there's a lot of overlap, and I only sold my R26.R last September.
A BBR MX-5 is another option but I just can't get excited by them. It doesn't actually have to be a two-seater or a cabrio, by the way. Just needs to be special, robust, a great handler, min 180 hp and lbs ft/tonne and preferably small and light.I keep coming back to a Megane R26 actually but I've already got a Clio and there's a lot of overlap, and I only sold my R26.R last September.
SWoll said:
Plenty of 987.1 S in budget with much healthier mileages.
Ref the Z4M, I'm assuming you're talking about this? I'd suggest an error at the MOT station when entering the mileage, no-one's going to go to the effort of clocking a car to shave 3k miles and the owner is likely not even aware.
IMO a 987.1 is a different proposition at a wholly different price point. I'd rather go 986 than 987.1...like the opposite of man maths.Ref the Z4M, I'm assuming you're talking about this? I'd suggest an error at the MOT station when entering the mileage, no-one's going to go to the effort of clocking a car to shave 3k miles and the owner is likely not even aware.
I'm sure you're right about the MoT issues, and the mileage discrepancy on the 987.2 is 100% a clerical error that should be easily fixed with a call to the DVLA, but I personally won't push the button on a car that's flagged on HPI even if I know it's not a serious matter. If the owner hasn't picked it up that's not a fastidious owner.
CABC said:
I'd say all of Europe is speed restricted now on the major roads (Portugal, Spain, France and Switzerland from personal experience). More remote B roads and C roads are still for playtime, and that seems to be Plenty's route plan.
Glad to know there are still some like-minded folks around these parts.TameRacingDriver said:
You mentioned the S2000 wasn't powerful enough but I don't reckon my Boxster S would have been much quicker, if at all.
Thanks, I haven't driven one, but assume a 987.2S is a fair bit quicker than a 986S (310 hp vs 247 hp).thecremeegg said:
Do it properly and get a Westfield/Caterham if the VX is a consideration?
Always wanted one. But I honestly don't think a Seven type car is made for day-long stints of hard driving in this environment. Short bursts, sure. The small tank is a limitation. And I suspect it would be more tiring than fun as the day wore on. The amount of energy and concentration you need to maintain for this kind of driving is significant enough in a 'normal' car let alone a Caterfield.OutInTheShed said:
If it's 6 hours, it's still only 40. UK B road diesel estate car speed.
Not suggesting the OP is a slow driver, more that he's talking about slow roads?
The following might help to explain. A typical day on the road.Not suggesting the OP is a slow driver, more that he's talking about slow roads?
Or watch Catchpole's latest Carfection video where he drives a GT4RS on Spanish roads that are representative of this use case.
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